You might be activated about theFalcon Heavy launchlater today , but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has already set anticipations high for what might be coming next .
take questions from reporters yesterday ( February 5 ) in a conference call , Musk say the starship part of SpaceX ’s next venture – theBig F*cking Rocket , or BFR – could be quick by next year . That ’s even before we ’ve attend the Falcon Heavy take flight .
BFR , if you remember , is Musk ’s imagination to send masses around the Solar System and colonize Mars . It consists of a single jumbo reusable booster – dub by Musk the BFB ( you could work that acronym out for yourself ) or BRB ( as it ’ll “ be right back ” ) – and a reusable starship on top .
The somewhat ambitious plan is to use that ship for many dissimilar missions , including trips into rich quad – such as the Moon , Mars , or even glacial moons like Europe and Enceladus – and also to take passengers on flights on Earth , reducing the meter between distant cities to 30 minute at the toll of an airplane ticket .
“ We ’ve decide to focus our future developments on the BFR , ” say Musk . “ It looks like the BFR development is moving quick . ”
SpaceX had to begin with planned to use its Falcon Heavy to send two paying customers on a Crew Dragon spacecraftaround the Moonat some point in the number days . But Musk said they were not going to fight ahead with putting Falcon Heavy through tests to enable it to carry humans , something that is costly and time - consuming , unless progress on the BFR stalls .
“ Our direction is on the [ BFR ] ship , ” said Musk , adding somewhat astonishingly that they “ expect to do short flights with the ship next year . That ’s aspirational . ” Exactly what those flights will entail is n’t clear , but we ’d gauge it could be similar to the “ grasshopper ” reusability test done to practise landing rockets a few years ago .
So where does that leave Falcon Heavy ? Well , we ’re not certain . What we do know is at 1.30pm EDT ( 6.30pm GMT ) today , a 2.5 - time of day launch window opens for its inaugural launch . It ’ll take off from Launch Complex 39A at Cape Canaveral in Florida .
On gameboard is Musk ’s Tesla Roadster motorcar , which will be sent towards the orbital plane of Mars if all goes to plan . After the launching , SpaceX hopes to land the three boosters of the Falcon Heavy back on Earth – two on land and one at ocean .
Musk said he was feeling “ quite giddy and glad ” as the launching come near . “ Normally I feel A-one stressed out but this prison term I do n’t , ” he said . “ It might be a bad foretoken . ”
He has made no secret of how risky this launching will be . He aver there was a roughly50 - 50 chanceof it really working , with a decent hazard the garden rocket might explode – although it ’s hope the rocket salad will at least have authorize the pad by then if the worst happens . It could take between eight and 12 calendar month to fix the pad if it ’s sternly damage .
One of the big unknowns is the detachment of the boosters from the core of the projectile itself . SpaceX has not been capable to quiz this on the ground at all , so we ’ll have to await and see how that give out .
The upper stage of the rocket , meanwhile , will not return safely to Earth . It will carry the Tesla Roadster for six hour through theVan Allen radiation beltsthat surround Earth , where Musk say the car is “ going to get whacked reasonably severely ” . He noted the Tesla might not make it out of Earth eye socket , as the fuel could stop dead on board the upper level ( the car does n’t have its own propulsion ) .
If it does make it past the belts , the car will then be placed into a heliocentric orbit ( one around the Sun ) , strain beyond the orbital plane of Mars . Musk said it would be in that orbit for several hundred million eld , “ maybe in excess of a billion year ” .
“ At times it will fall highly skinny to Mars , ” he note . “ There ’s a diminutive , tiny chance it will murder Mars . Extremely diminutive . I would n’t have your breath . ”
There will be three photographic camera on instrument panel the car , sending images back to Earth as it clear its way into infinite . Some detector are also on the upper microscope stage , but Musk said the “ fun hooey ” was the television camera . “ Will provide some epic position if everything goes well , ” he pronounce .
Musk noted that with a $ 90 million launch price , Falcon Heavy could far undercut their challenger , and provide a service for governments or commercial-grade companies to achieve geostationary orbit with ease . That may be one of its cardinal marketing points , alongsidepossible science missionsto deep blank destination .
“ If we ’re successful in this it is game over for all other heavy - lift rocket , ” he said . “ It ’s like endeavor to betray an aircraft where one is reusable , and the others are single use . ” He also said , if they require to , they could add two extra boosters to the garden rocket and make a “ Falcon Super Heavy ” .
Provided everything die okay , SpaceX go for to be able to launch their first commercial-grade Falcon Heavy delegation – a prominent communication planet for Arabsat from Saudi Arabia – in three to six months . If the launch does n’t go to plan , well , there will probably be some delays .
“ It will be a real huge sedative drug if it blows up , ” Musk enjoin . “ But hopefully , if it give way wrongly far into the mission , we can at least learn as much as possible along the style . ”
“ It ’s secure to be exciting , one manner or another , ” Musk added . “ Either an exciting achiever or an exciting failure . One swelled thunder . Tune in , it ’s gon na be deserving your time . ”
